Choosing Scholarship Winners

Only Finalists will be considered for the National Merit^® Scholarships. Approximately half of the Finalists will be Merit Scholarship^® winners (Merit Scholar^® awardees). Winners are chosen on the basis of their abilities, skills, and accomplishments—without regard to gender, race, ethnic origin, or religious preference. Scholarship recipients are the candidates judged to have the greatest potential for success in rigorous college studies and beyond.

To receive a scholarship payment, a Merit Scholarship winner must notify NMSC^® of plans to (a) enroll in a college or university in the United States that holds accredited status with a regional accrediting commission on higher education, and (b) enroll full time in an undergraduate course of study leading to a traditional baccalaureate degree. NMSC scholarship stipends are not payable for attendance at service academies or certain institutions that are limited in their purposes or training.

The selection process involves evaluating substantial amounts of information about Finalists obtained from both students and their high schools. Included are the Finalist’s academic record (course load and difficulty level, depth and breadth of subjects studied, and grades earned); PSAT/NMSQT^® scores; the student’s essay; demonstrated leadership and contributions to school and community activities; and the school official’s written recommendation and characterization of the Finalist.

The same process is used to select Special Scholarship winners for a corporate sponsor’s awards.

Types of Scholarships

Some 7,140 National Merit Scholarships of three types and approximately 740 Special Scholarships will be awarded in 2025; these 7,880 awards will have a combined value of over $35 million. Different types of scholarships will be offered, but no student can receive more than one monetary award from NMSC.

National Merit $2500 Scholarships

These awards are unique because every Finalist is considered for one and winners are named in every state and other selection unit. The number awarded in each state is determined by the same representational procedure used to designate Semifinalists. Finalists compete with all other Finalists in their state or selection unit for one of the 2,500 National Merit $2500 Scholarships. Winners are selected by a committee of college admission officers and high school counselors.

National Merit^® $2500 Scholarships provide a single payment of $2,500. NMSC’s own funds support the majority of these scholarships, but corporate sponsors help underwrite these awards with grants they provide to NMSC in lieu of paying administrative fees.

Corporate-sponsored scholarships

In 2023, about 160 corporations, company foundations, and businesses sponsored scholarships through the National Merit Program as part of their educational philanthropy. These sponsors committed over $13 million to support approximately 840 corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards and 740 Special Scholarships for children of employees, or for other accomplished students who meet the sponsor’s criteria.

The number of National Merit Scholarships a company or business offers annually may range from one to more than 100. Finalists who meet a sponsor’s criteria are identified from information Semifinalists supply on their scholarship applications. Winners are selected from this pool based on their abilities, skills, and accomplishments. The scholarship name usually identifies the grantor—for example, National Merit XYZ Company Scholarship.

Over two-thirds of the program’s corporate sponsors also provide Special Scholarships. Organizations that sponsor Special Scholarships make Entry Forms available to children of employees or members, or to students with qualifications of interest to the sponsor. Entry Forms are completed by students (and their parents, if applicable). If the number of Finalists eligible for a sponsor’s awards is smaller than the number of awards the corporate organization wishes to offer, NMSC establishes a pool of candidates to compete for the remaining awards (Special Scholarships). These candidates are the highest scoring students who filed Entry Forms with the sponsoring organization but were not named Finalists. NMSC sends Special Scholarship application materials to these candidates through their high schools.

Each corporate sponsor specifies the monetary limits of scholarships it finances and decides whether the awards provide one-time payments or fixed stipends that can be renewed for up to four years of college undergraduate study. (See chart below.)

College-sponsored Merit Scholarships

In the 2025 competition, it is expected that about 3,800 National Merit Scholarships will be offered to Finalists who plan to attend a sponsor college or university. (See the list of about 160 colleges that currently are Merit Scholarship sponsors, here.) A college-sponsored scholarship is renewable for up to four years of undergraduate study at the sponsor institution. It cannot be transferred; therefore, it is canceled if a winner does not attend the college financing the award.

Officials of each sponsor institution choose award recipients from among Finalists who have been accepted for admission and have informed NMSC that the sponsor college or university is their first choice. Each college sponsor chooses the annual stipend their institution offers to award recipients, within a range of $500 to $2,000 per year. All college-sponsored scholarship recipients at the institution will receive the same stipend amount as determined by the college.

SCHOLARSHIPS OFFERED